Burner means, especially for glassmaking furnaces or tanks



2 Sheets-Sheet 2 H12 Z nrne'ys v. MuLHoLLAND Original Filed Dec. 16

BURNER MEANS ESPECILLY FOR GLASS MAKING FURNACE OR TANK Feb. 9, 1943.

Mllness:

, The high velocity Patented Feb. 9, 1943 2,310,704 MEANS, ESPECIALLYFOR GLASS- BURNER QFFCE MAKING FURNACES R TANKS Vergil Mulholland, wennor to Hartford-Empire artfcrd, Conn., assign- Company, Hartford,

Conn., a corporation of Delaware Original application December 16, 1939,Serial No. 309,584. Divided and this application May 2, 1940, Serial No.332,922

2 maims.

This invention relates to a burner means espe= cially for use in a glassmaking tank or furnace. The present application is a division of myprior and copending application, Serial No. 309,584, filed December 16,1939, entitled Glass making furnace or tank and burner means for usetherewit Regenerative furnaces are commonly used by the prior art in themaking of glass, many of these furnaces being supplied with fluid fuel,either oil or gas, in accordance with what fuel is available at theplant where the furnace is to be used. In a majority of these furnacesthe fuel has been supplied at the sides in various relations in respectto the regenerator ports through which the preheated air is supplied tothe furnace.

Particularly when using oil as a fuel, difficulties have arisen fromtime to time due to the relative inaccessibility of the burners throughwhich the oil is supplied and to the requirement .incident to theburning of oilA that the burners be taken out and cleaned or replaced atfairly frequent intervals. As a result, several attempts have been madeto supply fuel to regenerative glass making furnaces through the endwall, while supplying the preheated air from the regenerators throughports opening through the side walls.

This has been done with greater or less success in variousinstallations, but` in substantially all cases difficulties have arisendue to the sensitiveness ofthe adjustment or of the design, andparticularly to the requirement that the burners be located in specificways and directed at specific angles in order to provide the heat in asatisfac-tory manner without creating difficulties either with themaking of the glass or due to the melting down of parts of the furnace.

These dimculties and the sensitiveness of the general arrangement toadjustment have arisen largely due to the fact that a burner projectinga high caloriflc value fuel longitudinally' of the tankor furnace, inconjunction with laterally flowing air streams, tends to project suchfuel and the flame therefrom a greater distance longitudinally of thetank than is desired before complete mixing with the air is effected andcombustion is completed, there being an incomplete mixing of the fuelwith the air adjacent to the rear of the tank and a consequent lack ofthe desired heat generation at this portion of the tank. of theintroduction of fuel and/ or the atomizing air supplied therewith hasresulted in some instances in a substantial fusion or erosion'away ofportions of the roof or bridge Wall, due to the excessive generation ofheatin this portion of the tank or furnace in conjunction with theaction of the alkalis picked up from the batch and carried along by thecombustion products. The batch is normally supplied to the tank adjacentto the rear thereof and, in some instances, has tended to float farforwardly and portions thereof have been mechanically picked up by thellames.

A further diiculty which has arisen in tanks of this type has been thatof making good glass free from seeds, bubbles and unmelted glass makingmaterials or batch. This is probably due to the fact that the highvelocity flames from the burners located in the rear Walls have tendedto cause the floating portions of batch (which are of lower 'specificgravity than the glass) to move forwardly toward the bridge wall as aplurality of floating islands, each of which is impelled forwardly bythe flames, in the same Way as a sailing ship on the ocean is moved bythe wind.V

The presence of this unmelted glass making material or batch in theportion of the tank where all the glass should have been melted andwhere refining thereof should normally take place has resulted in theincomplete refining of the glass and the presence of seeds or bubblestherein, which has resulted in inferior glass.

An object of the invention is to provide burner means in associationwith a, glass making furnace or tank, which are constructed and arrangedso that the flames from the burners will be deflected to a sufficientextent away from the lateral side walls in order that these walls mayhave a reasonable life.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to provide aburner means arranged in association with a Wall defining a flame spaceof a glass making furnace or tank, which will provide a substantiallyfiat sheet of flame above the glass of the bath and wherein this sheetof flame will have a away from the burners, so that combustion may becompleted in the time and space available and the heat will bedistributed in a desired manner to the glass.

Specifically, it is an object of the invention to provide a pair ofburners both disposed in a single substantially vertical plane anddirected so that the flame of one will lmpinge upon the flame of theother to provide a sheet of flame asaforesaid, and wherein this sheet offlame may be deflected upwardly or downwardly by a suitable control ofthe fuel and/ or air to one or both the burners.

relatively low velocity in a direction I A further specific object ofthe invention is to provide a glass making furnace or tank having a pairof vertically disposed burners as aforesaid which supply impinging amesto provide a sub-.- stantially horizontal sheet of flame extending fromin front of the burners, and wherein one and preferably both the burnersof the cooperating pair are so arranged that the air and/or fuel of theburners will be given a swirling movement, and more specifically whereinboth the air and the fuel from the burners will be swirled and theswirls will be in such directions that the swirling movement imparted tothe flames by the upper burner will be in the opposite direction to thatimparted to the iiames by the lower burner ofthe pair, This isparticularly useful to deflect laterally the sheet of flame from a pairof burners away from a wall extending in a generally longitudinaldirection away from the wall with which the burner group is associated,and thus to prevent the undue destruction of such longitudinallyextending wall.

A further specific object of the invention is to provide a burner groupyas hereinabove set forth. wherein the burners impart oppositely directedswirls to the flames therefrom, this being particularly useful inconjunction with the rear wall of a glass making furnace or tank whereinregenerated air is supplied to the furnace or tank through the sidewalls, the directions of swirls from the burners being such that the airso supplied will be drawn into the ame to provide a desired rapid mixingwith the fuel therein, and particularly provide for a distribution ofthe generation of heat in a desired manner over the glass.

A further specific object of the invention is to provide a particularburner construction as aforesaid wherein the air is supplied from theburner in a plurality of streams, all lying substantially in the surfaceof a cone and wherein the fluid fuel, such as oil, is supplied in aplurality of streams from within the source of air streams and also inthe form of a cone, the cone of the air streams being converging fromthe burner and that of the fuel streams being divergingr from theburner, so as to provide a desired type of mixing of the fuel and airresulting in the rapid and complete atomization of the fuel and in thecomplete combustion thereof, while using a minimum amount of atomizingair.

Further and more detailed objects of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description of a specific embodiment thereofand will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a. view substantially in transverse vertical section of anend-fired glass making furnace or tank having laterally openingregenerator ports, the view being taken from a median portion of thetank looking toward the rear thereof Fig. 2 is a fragmentary viewsubstantially in horizontal section on the line 2 2 of Fig..1:

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale and in verticalsection line 34 of Fig. 2:

Fig. 4 is a view partly in elevation and partly broken away and intransverse section of one of the burners constructed in accordance withthis invention;

Fig. 5 is an end view of the discharge end of the burner of Fig.

4 as seen from the left in that iigure;

substantially on the' Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view, similar to Fig. 5.but showing a somewhat different arrangement of nozzle openings in thedischarge end of the burner; and Y Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view,similar to a part of Fig. 4, illustrating a modifled form of thedischarge apertures for the fiuid fuel.

While it is contemplated that the present invention may be employed withglass tanks wherein no heat recovery is attempted, such for example assmall day tanks, and while the present invention is also considered tobe adaptable to tanks wherein heat recovery is eifected by recuperatorsas well as by regenerators, and/or wherein preheated air is introducedthrough the end wall instead of or in addition to through the sidewalls, there is shown for purposes of illustration a tank with which aregenerative heat recovery system is associated. The drawings show,however, merely a plurality of regenerator ports in the side walls ofthe furnace or tank; and the burners are associated with the rear endwall. In the present instance a pair oi' burners are shown, although forcertain tanks, including for example day tanks, but one burner group mayb employed.

Turning now particularly to the drawings, there is illustrated in Figs.1, 2 and 3, a tank or furnace for making glass, comprising aglasscontaining basin including side and end walls I, and a bottom 2,these portions of the furnace being constructed in any conventionalmanner, the illustration in the drawings being solely diagrammatic.There is also illustrated buck stays 3 by which the tank is supported ina conventional manner. In Figs. 1 and 3, a. bath of molten glass Il isillustrated which extends up to a normal surface level 5.

Above the glass-containing basin is the usual ame space, which is formedin a conventional manner by a marginal portion of tuck stone 6, sidewalls 'I and a rear wall 8. The flame space is defined at the top by aconventional arched roof 9 supported in the usual manner upon skewblocks I0.

Glass making materials or batch may be supplied to the bath 4 in anysuitable or desired manner. 'I'here is shown a conventional doghouse IIlocated midway of the rear end wall of the furnace.

Associated with the side walls 'I defining the flame space above theglass level 5 are a plurality of regenerator ports I2 through whichpreheated air is supplied alternately from one side and the other totraverse the flame space transversely thereof inthe usual manner. 'Iheregenerators 4themselves are not shown in the drawings, but may be ofany conventional or desired type.

. Associated with the rear end wall 8 of the flame space and d isposedsymmetrically in respect to this wall are two burner groups genand I4,the burners of same except as hereinwith the invention burners whereineither the i will be operating, burner group I3 being out of operationduring this period.

Referring now more particularly to Fig. 3,*each of the burner groups I3and I6 comprise a pair of burners including an upper burner I5 and alower burner I6, these burners preferably being identical with oneanother except as hereinafter noted. The burners I5 and I6 arepreferably in vertical alignment with one another, that is in `the samevertical plane, and are varranged to project fluid fuel and atomizingair through suitable apertures I'I in burner blocks, generally indicatedat I8, which are set into the wall 8 as i y shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

Means are provided for mounting the burners I5 and i6 rigidly andadjustably, in the position shown, such means comprising a pair ofstructural angle members I9 and 20 adjustably secured to and extendingbetween adjacent buck stays 3 as by the provision of brackets havingelongate bolt holes therein (not shown) and supporting at the positionof the burner group a built-up structural bracket member including theparts 2i, 22,23 and 24, all of which are secured together by verticallydisposed plates 25 to which these parts are secured, kas by welding,bolting or otherwise. This structural member may be interchangeable withothers adapted to hold the burners I5 and I6 at different angles intheir common vertical plane and/or to change the position of thatvertical plane in respect to the longitudinal axis of the furnace orsuch adjustive provisions may be otherwise provided in any desiredmanner. The built-up structural member is formed to provide a pair ofT-shaped slots 26 andv 2l for the upper and lower burners respectively.

l Arranged for sliding movement in these slots are T-shaped supportingbrackets 28 and 29 respectively, which carry water cooling chambers 3Eand 3l respectively. The water cooling chambers 3@ and 3l are shaped toreceive and position the forward'ends of the burners i5 and i6.

In order to position the water cooling chambers 3l) and 3| accurately inthe apertures I'l of the burner blocks I8, screw threaded studs 32 and33 are provided, which pass through threaded openings in brackets 34 and35 respectively and have their .forward ends bearing upon the T- shapedbrackets 28 and 29 respectively, The brackets 3d and 35 are secured tothe angle members i9 and 20 by bolts, as shown, and carry collar members36 and 31 respectively in which the rear portions of the burners I5 andI5 are received and positioned. The screws 32 and 33 normally willposition the bracket members 28 and 29 in engagement with the stopmember 2li of the rigid supporting structure, as shown.

Means are provided for supplying a cooling fluid, usually water, to andwithdrawing it from the cooling chambers 30 and 3l, such means in thepresent instance including pipes 38 and 39 and being otherwiseconventional and hence not atomizing air or uid fuel, or both, are givena swirling movement. Inasmuch as the volume of air used is considerablylarger than the volume of oil, if oil is employed, the swirling movementimparted to the atomizing air in an oil burner is of greater importancethan is the swirling movement imparted to the oil. However, thepreferable arrangement in accordance with this invention is one whereinthe atomizing air is given a swirling movement in one direction, forexample clockwise, and the fuel is given a swirling movement in theopposite direction, for example counterclockwise.

When using a pair of burners such as are shown at l5 and I6 in Fig. 3,the burners are disposed in asingle vertical plane and are so directedthat the ames therefrom will impinge upon one another at a point or zoneinwardly of the furnace from the burner tips. It is preferred asaforesaid that the swirling movement imparted by one of the burners bein the opposite direction from that imparted by the other. 'I'his isindicated by arrows for the burner group I3, Fig. 1, wherein theswirling movement imparted by the -upper burner I5 is counterclockwise,while that of the lower burner I6 is clockwise. This arrangement,particularly in conjunction with a burner group associated with atransverse, supply of combustion-supporting air from the port I2, asindicated by the arrows in Fig. 1, results in a substantially horizontalsheet of flame extending over the bath of glass in the furnace. Thissheet of llame is deected from a position aligned with the verticalplane of the burner in the direction of the center of the tank, to theright as seen in Fig. l, and away from the left-hand wall adjacentto'which the burner group I3 is located, thus effectively preventing theoverheating and unduly rapid deterioration of this wall. This particularrelation between the direction of swirls of the two burners of the groupin conjunction with the supplying lso particularly illustrated herein.

Means are provided for supplying atomizing air and fluid fuel to theburners I5 and I6 As 'tained by the use of many different typesofburners, it is preferred to employ in conjunction of combustion airlaterally, as shown, also assists in drawing the combustion-supportingair into the zone of combustion between the flames of the burners andassistsvin the rapid and complete mixing of the air with the fuel. Thisresults in more perfect combustion and in the generation of heat in theportions of the furnace where this heat is most desired, and, further,results in the reduction in the longitudinal velocity of the flame andthe products of combustion, so as to prevent the rapid destruction ofthe portions of the tank, particularly the roof thereof, adjacent to thebridge wall and of the bridge Wall itself and any structure thereabove(the bridge wall and structures thereover not being shown in theaccompanying drawings).

Furthermore, the reduction in the velocity of the gases from the burnertends to reduce the effect of the flames and products of combustion inmoving the batch piles, which float upon the surface 5 of the glassbath, away from the rear end of the furnace. The combustion system shownand described causes the generation of a large amount of heatadjacent tothe rear of the furnace where it is desired in order that the batch maybe completely melted in this zone of the furnace. Thus, unmeltedbatchwill not move into the zone of the furnace where refining is intended totake place to contaminate the glass in that zone and to prevent theproper clearing and homogenizing thereof. This results in good qualityglass Abeingmade inthe furnace or tank.

Another desirable function of ,the combination thus far described isthat by a suitable manipulation of some or all of the valves 42, 43, 46and 41 controlling the supplying of air-"and fuel to the burners I5 andI6, it is possible to elevate or depress the plane of the flame fromthis burner group, which-may be controlled to be a substantiallyhorizontal plane parallel with the surface 5 of the bath of glass 4 inthe furnace or may be deected upwardly or downwardly by the relativeintensities of the flames from the burners I5 and I6. It is possible,for example, to burn threequarters of the fuel in one of the burners ofthe group and but one-quarter of the total fuel burned in this group inthe other of the burners, a suitable amount of atomizing air beingsupplied to the two burners in accordance with the amount of fuelrespectively supplied thereto. It is also possible by a suitable controlof the flow of air and fuel to the burners of a group to deiiect thellame downwardly from this group so that it will impinge upon thesurface of the glass and then be deflected upwardly from this surface ifthis action is desired. The present disclosure does not attempt to teachany one specific desired manner of operating the burners, but merelyteaches the construction and methods by which various effects may be hadin accordance' with the desires of the operators.

Turning now to the particular construction of the burner specificallyillustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, this burner comprises an outer tubularbody member or pipe 48 to which is threaded a head 49 at the dischargeend of the burner and which forms a'burner tip, including a reentrantannular forward wall 50. The head 49 also-has an inwardly directedannular portion 5I to which is threaded a pipe 52. Air is supplied tothe annular space or chamber 53 formed between the pipes 49 and 52 andbounded at its forward end by the head 49. The-forward wall 50 of theburner tip 49 is provided with a circular series of apertures 54 throughwhich the atomizing air passes'from the b urner. These apertures aredisposed in such a manner that they all lie with their axes in thesurface of a converging cone. Furthermore, the axes of these ports donot lie in lines such as would be formed by the intersection of a radialplane with the surface of this cone, but rather all lie at a particularangle in the same direction with respect to such intersection, so as tocause a sort of swirling motion to the air supplied therethrough. Asshown in Fig. 5, the air passing from the apertures 54 will be given aswirling motion in a clockwise direction.

The burner` tip 49 has a large circular 'axial aperture 55 in which islocated therforward end wall portion 56 of atip 51 for a fluid fuel. Theforward end of the tip 51 is formed as a cylindrical body and issomewhat smaller than the aperture 55, so that it will not bindtherewith even when the burner has been heated to a relatively hightemperature during use. Rearwardly of the aperture 55, the tip 49 isformed with a conical face 58 which converges toward the forward end ofthe burner and is adapted to receive and tightly ta complementaryconical surface 59 formed on the tip 51. The tip 51 is carried by a pipe69 threaded thereto, as shown, and extending rearwardly through thepipes 48 and 52, the several pipes being suitably secured`tosethery atthe rear end of -the burner in a con.- ventional manner, notillustrated. Thus the pipe S0 and tip 51 may be withdrawn from theburner for cleaning or replacement at any time without interference withthe tip 49 and the pipes 48 and 5-2. and during the continued operationof the air supplying portion of the burner.

The forward end wall 56 of the tip 51 is provided with a circular seriesof apertures 6I through which the fluid fuel is supplied from theinterior of the tip 51, which may be considered a fuel chamber 62. Theapertures 6I are so disposed that their axes will lie in the surface ofa diverging cone and are also disposed therein at a predetermined anglein a single direction to lines which would be formed by the intersectionof a radial plane with the surface of this diverging cone.

As shown in Fig.' 5, the fluid fuel will also be given a swirlingmovement in a clockwise direction due to the disposition of theapertures 6I. It is contemplated, however, that the air and fuel may begiven swirling movements in opposite directions, as shown for example inFig. 6, wherein the air is given a swirling movement in acounterclockwise direction and the fuel is given a swirling movement ina clockwise direction. This reverse arrangement is the preferred form ofburner, it being understood that rboth the directions of swirls of theair and fuel may be reversed. However, it is contemplated that anycombination of clockwise and counterclockwise swirls may be employed asmay be desired and in accordance with the spirit of the teachings givenhereinabove.

Due to the convergence of the streams of air in conjunction with thedivergence of the streams of fuel, there will be an intimate mixing ofthe air and fuel from the burner at a short distance Yfrom the dischargeend thereof. This action is further improved by reverse swirlingmovements imparted to the air and' fuel respectively and is stillfurther improved when using a pair of burners, as 'shown at l5 and I Sof the group I3 of Fig. 1 wherein reverse swirls are given to the airand fuel of the upper and lower vburners respectively.

Furthermore, as will Abe understood from the foregoing, the directionsof swirls of the burners of the burner group I4 will preferably be thereverse respectively of those of the burners of group I3. In thisrespect, this application constitutes a continuation in part oiapplicants i copending application Serial No. 212,705, led

June 9, 1938, for Method of and apparatus for firing and feeding batchto glass melting furnace.

In Fig. 7 there is shown a modified form for the openings through whichthe fluid fuel is discharged from the burner. The burner tip for fluidfuel is indicated in. this ligure at 51* and corresponds to the tip 51of Fig. 4, with the exception of the shape or conformation of theapertures through which the fuel is discharged from the burner. Theseapertures are indicated at 6I in Fig. 7 and are formed at their outerends with flaring portions indicated at 63.

For certain purposes, it has been found that a burner with flared fuelopenings is more effective than one with the cylindrical openings asshown burners, while using the other at 6I in Fig. 4. It has, forexample, been found that when a. pair of burners are used, as shown atI5 and I6 in Fig. 3, it may be desirable to use a tip, such as thatshown at 51, with one of the burner with a tip as shown at 51 withstraight-sided openings BI, Fig. 4. Any desired combination of burnersusing either of the tips of Figs. 4 or may be employed within thepurview of this invention.

While there is disclosed herein but one embodiment of this invention, Ido not wish to be limited tothis specinc embodiment, but recognizearavoa distinct means defining la fuel passage within said air passage,said respective means being formed at the forward ends of the fuel andair passages to provide a concentric hole and a substantially smallerplug meansarranged within said hole respectively, and rearwardlydiverging conical surfaces formed on the yair and fuel pas sage-formingmeans respectively and arranged to seat one against the other in rear ofsaid hole and plug means, whereby the means forming Isaid fuel passageis disposed in non-binding relation with the air passage-forming meansand so that the fuel passage forming means may be withdrawn from theremainder of the burner for cleaning and replacement withoutinterference with the means forming the air passage, said air and fuelpassages lboth terminating at the forward end of the burner in nozzleopenings, the nozzle openings for the air and for the fuel respectivelyIbeing such as to cause atomizing air to be discharged from the burnersubstantially in the surface of a cone and the fuel to be dis'- chargedfrom the burner also substantially in the surface of a cone, said conesrespectively being such that streams of the discharged air and fluidfuel will intersect each other at a predetermined distance from thedischarge end of said burner. 2. A fluid fuel burner, comprising meansdefining an annular passage for atomizing air having a Wall at theforward end thereof formed with an outwardly flaring annular front face,a circular series of passages from said annular air passage extendingthrough said forward wall and opening through said outwardly flaringannular front face, the axes of each of the passages of s'aidv circularseries all lying substantially in the surface of a cone and all being ata predetermined angle in one direction to lines in said surface, passageforming means for fluid fuel disposed within said annular air passageand having a forward wall' formed with an outwardly taper ing front facelocated within the outwardly flaring front face ofthe first-namedforward wall, and a circular series of fluid fuel passages extendingthrough the last-named forward wall and opening through the outwardlytapering front face thereof, all the passages of the last-named circularseries lying with ltheir axes substantially in the surface of a cone andat a predetermined angle in the opposite direction from that of thecircular series of air passages, the cones defined by the oil` and airpassages respectively being such that the oil and air streams willintersect at a predetermined distance from the discharge end of saidburner.

VERGIL MULHOLLAND.

